Whats your legendary routes? I'm nominating Tees valley line. I always find myself pulled back to Tees valley, maybe it's the legendary class 37 or the 101 or the class 20, maybe the 31, shunting in the class 08. Very well modelled, I would say this is one of if not the best done routes in tsw to date. Beautiful English countryside along side some of the best looking heavy industry I've seen in tsw. With some of the buildings and stations and structures still retaining that victorian look and feel about them. Untouched by the franchises with thier wacky paint schemes! It's a living piece of history. With plenty of rolling stock and services, both freight and passenger it can keep a boy happy for hours.
Northern Transpennine. One of my local routes & has my favourite type of services, express stoppers. Ideally I’d like it to be set a few years ahead with some pacer & sprinters in the mix, along with AWS. All in all though with the HFP included I’ve enjoyed many a run on the route. Honourable mention to RSN too, something about the atmosphere on the route keeps me going back to one of TSW’s earliest routes. It’s a sensation that DTG, in my opinion, haven’t got close to since.
I do like transpennine alot. Also a well made route. Rsn is also good. I'm not really into German trains but I play rsn occasionally. It's got some nice scenery and I think the only route I've ever seen the rusty leaves blowing around from time to time.
Sand Patch Grade. Set a quality standard that's rarely been matched. Two years in the making and it shows. When it was released, it created high expectations that TSW would be a new era in train simming, expectations that have somewhat faded in the last few years.
Bakerloo. Stops are frequent enough that it requires me to pay attention, and I like zipping through the tunnels at speed and waiting for that burst of light up ahead. Definitely my most favourite route so far.
Ruhr Sieg Nord is my best. A beautiful and interesting route, a varied package of services and rolling stock. BR232 will add more variety to the gameplay. My expectations for the future are the expansion to Siegen. Maybe even the appearance of branches to Bochum and Dortmund.
My nominee is the Peninsula Corridor! It’s one of the few routes in the game where DTG got to visit in-person, giving the locomotives some well done sounds. In terms of gameplay, it’s a very exciting commuter route where you can either spend most of your time flying at 79 mph, or be one of those pesky slow drivers that stops at every station. The F40PH-2CAT is also one of the most interesting passenger trains in the entire game to drive, with its fancy brakes and all. I also agree that Ruhr Sieg Nord definitely deserves a spot in the TSW hall of fame, just for being such an incredible experience unlike any other German route.
I don't see how, the route is probably one of the best looking, but it's included rolling stock is complete trash, plus it could of been longer.
It is kind of sad that nothing has really come close to a complete package for US freight routes, each one after has something wrong with it, or misses the extra mark that SPG has set.
Mainly based on the scenic appeal. TBH none of the US routes really stand out as legendary in my book, haven't purchased LIRR or HSC yet and Cajon I've barely touched having already driven the Run 8 version to death. SPG is a 25 MPH bore fest over track with curvature that should be good for twice that speed and Clinchfield after the initial ooo's and aah's never really pulled me back in. Cane Creek is a bit different from the rest and I always enjoyed it in the other sims too, going back all the way to Trainmaster 4. I agree the rolling stock is a bit weedy though.
Riesa-Dresden and Ruhr Sieg Nord Germany UK Brighton Main Line US Harlem Line The reason why I said both Riesa-Dresden combined with Ruhr Sieg Nord is that you get a DB Baureihe 155 service.
Northern Transpennine. It is just such an atmospheric route. Interesting scenery, stations and track layouts, the outstanding class 101, plus a good collection of diesel locos, with the 31 and 40 coming later to supplement the 45 and 47. All interesting and a challenge to drive. No modern plastic. If they could just sort out the issue with the signalling, so that you could be assured a correct signal sequence, it would be perfect. But it’s damned close.
I'll echo what others have said about NTP, motive power variety's solid, looks reasonably good, and I really like the atmosphere the route give, my favorite route. Peninsula Corridor's a close second for similar reasons, but I think NTP gets the edge, it feels like it has more polish overall. I would add to this the MP36 and its cab car while maybe slightly less interesting due to the more standard brake setup I'd consider on par with the F40PH quality wise. The MP15's good quality as well, albeit it uses slightly inaccurate SW1500 sounds, so it's a bit lacking in that respect. But I feel it makes up for it by bringing with it some very unique services to the route. With those locos the route feels very complete in terms of motive power, which is pretty notable in my mind as it's a issue many other US routes have in TSW. I find it ironic you complain about Sand Patch's track speed, which I don't get seeing as the line does have some decent curves, and is up a quite steep grade. But to my understanding Cane Creek was quite literally built for higher speeds, they just don't do the maintenance for it these days due to the lack of trains on that route.
Well actually, having taken a run on Peninsula Corridor earlier this evening, what was always a nice looking route now comes over even better in the revised lighting of TSW3. So without any shame I freely and unreservedly now change my US vote from Cane Creek to PC. As a fan of loco hauled traffic (well okay it does feature the dreaded cab cars too, to some extent) it is an oasis away from Electrostars and DB Red Karts!
Well, actually SPG has several speed changes during the full run. And if you think it is a " bore fest ", Cane Creek is much slower, has almost no speed changes off the main line, despite being arrow-straight for most of its length and should be faster, even with that cargo. I do agree with you about the Cane Creek scenery. I think it's actually better than Cajon Pass overall. But I still say SPG is better. Horses for courses.
UK: I‘ve played Northern Transpennine and Tees Valley Line quite often lately. The atmosphere is amazing, the old trains are great to drive, and the scenery is very varied (something that is naturally missing from many of the modern mainline routes). I‘ve also been playing SOS and WCL a lot, basically for the same reasons. I also fancy having a go on the more modern routes from time to time, especially because the trains are so easy to drive (and thus quite easy to adapt to spontaneously, compared to something like the BR 101 or steam). GER: Haven’t been playing lots of German stuff, but I do touch KWG, HRR and RRO frequently. They all have either varied services or multiple track variants to drive on. I played lots of DCZ, DRA and HMA a few months ago, but admittedly got a bit tired of them (which lead to my interest in the classic UK routes above). US: I only really play Peninsula Corridor, especially since getting the amazing Baby Bullet DLC. Can’t wait for the new timetable! All of the other routes are either too bland/boring (Boston - Providence), too old (LIRR) or freight (just not my thing). But the only route that truly stands above all of those, and has been a dependable companion of mine since I started playing TSW almost two years ago, is Bakerloo Line! It’s just soooo different from everything else. I love the combination of the frequent and precise stops with the quirky but not too complicated train. A cloudy evening run with some nice music in the background really manages to immerse me in the whole experience.
London Commuter - the timetable is amazing, and the Electrostars (especially the coupling operations) are very relaxing and fun to drive (even with performance issues). Naverkehr Dresden - the only other Mainland European route I have is Schnellefahrstrecke Koln Aachen, but this may change if I get Kassel-Wurzburg. Sand Patch Grade - the only other North American route I have is Boston Sprinter, which should be better, but I really want the signalling to be improved (at least in TSW3). If this happens, then it is an easy overtake.
I am also going to echo what others have said and go for NTP as it is so atmospheric and the sound of 40s, 45s and 47s really brings a lot back. It's a brilliant route and have many thousands of miles on it.
Oooh, Ruhr Sieg Nord is an interesting pick! It’s still a modern-day route, but feels quite old and “dirty” with the heavy emphasis on industry and the mountainous scenery. It’s probably the best way to get a unique German experience until they release the truly old/traditional route they’re working on right now. I should give it a try more often!
Two points: 1) Cane Creek has constant changes of grade requiring you to be constantly adjusting throttle or brakes- that keeps it to my mind far more interesting than SPG with its long constant grades, where once you have the right setup for 0 delta-V you have nothing left to do. 2) Speed limits are not always just there to prevent derailments, or runaways. In many cases they are a function of track engineered weight vs expected axle loads: too-heavy trains too fast can over time pound the track to pieces.
I totally agree with RSN and NTP! They are excellent! But TVL is great too! I could hardly decide on that. In fact, these early routes are really excellent. DTG should not make the mistake of neglecting them in the future. In addition to legendary things, there are also pearls. For me, these are OSD and WSR. OSD in particular impresses with its industrial roamntics and deserves an upgrade soon! It's a short route but with a lot of flair. WSR is just cozy...
Agree on NTP (just edges it over TVL for me because of the more interesting gradients) Agree on Peninsular Corridor, interesting loco haulage, exotic setting for someone from my part of the world and a complete and realistic timetable. I hope to be able to add Spirit of Steam to this list one day, DTG are obviously on a journey with it and not quite there yet. I might have to take a look at getting RSN given the number of times it's been mentioned.
